Fannie Mae has yet to implement a red flag system to identify trends and data anomalies for servicer reimbursements, according to a new report from the FHFA Inspector General.

If FHFA lowers the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac loan limit, will that business shift over to the FHA?

Analysts are now suggesting that higher interest rates along with rising home prices will constrain housing affordability.

The top 20 bank and thrift mortgage servicers all reported increases in their MSR valuations, according to exclusive figures from Inside Mortgage Trends.

Terry Edwards has received high marks for his accomplishments at Fannie Mae. But can he get the CSP off the ground?

Despite growth in the non-agency jumbo market, primary market lenders remain focused on production that they can safely securitize through the GSEs and Ginnie Mae.

Mortgage buybacks can vary significantly among seller/servicers because it’s driven by business and legal processes rather than current market dynamics.

Banks and savings institutions in the second quarter of 2013 reported the lowest volume of mortgage repurchases and indemnifications since the buyback blight really bit into the industry four years ago, according to a new call report analysis by Inside Mortgage Trends. Banks and thrifts reported $2.671 billion in mortgage repurchases and indemnifications during the second quarter, the industry’s lowest since the second quarter of 2009, when buybacks totaled $2.059 billion ... [Includes one data chart]

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac saw their combined business in single-family mortgage-backed securities decline during the first six months of 2013 with nonbank lenders making up well over one-quarter of their business, according to an Inside The GSEs analysis. The two GSEs pumped out some $693.6 billion in new single-family MBS during the first and second quarters. With a 28.5 percent market share, nonbank sellers accounted for $197.4 billion of Fannie and Freddie loans sold during the January through June period.Nonbanks as a whole made the most of the retail channel (55.1 percent) during the six-month period, which was generally comparable to all GSE sellers (60.2 percent), while the gap widened in the correspondent channel between nonbanks (19.9 percent) and all GSE sellers (29.0 percent).

A widely-expected reduction in conforming loan limits in 2014 by the Federal Housing Finance Agency will likely be confined to a handful of states, but that’s not stopping industry stakeholders and advocates from worrying about the implications of tighter credit for middle-income homebuyers in high-priced markets. Currently, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans are capped at $625,500 in high-cost areas and it’s been stuck at $417,000 for everywhere since 2006. According to an analysis by Barclays Capital, the FHFA currently has the authority absent additional legislation to lower the base GSE conforming loan limit under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. Lowering the conforming limit would in turn reduce the high-cost limit.